Decision on Rubio could come Saturday morning

It appears, as Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said Wednesday night, that the goal remains to have Ricky Rubio make his debut Saturday against Dallas at Target Center.

Not that anybody is anywhere near to confirming that.

After Thursday’s very light, no-contact practice, Wolves president of basketball operations David Kahn, coach Rick Adelman and head athletic trainer Gregg Farnam met with Rubio courtside. But Adelman wasn’t revealing anything about that meeting.

“It’s like I told you last night,” he said. “Just evaluating it every day, and we’ll see what comes, you know?”

And that prompted what has become the usual round of questions circulating around the Rubio issue.

Does he look ready? Won’t know until he plays, Adelman said, but he hasn’t had any setbacks in practice.

Adelman said Rubio is being tested every day, and that a decision on whether or not he plays Saturday could be made that morning.

“There are a lot of things we’ve talked about, if he plays,” Adelman said. “What’s the schedule going forward from there? It’s just not Saturday, it’s how much do we want to play him?”

Starting Friday the Wolves have four games in five nights. After a day off the Wolves then hit a stretch with three games in seven days.

Still, Adelman said there have been discussions about how much Rubio will play to start with, how he will be used at first – off the bench or starting, for example.

“You have to look at it not just from Ricky’s point of view but from the whole team’s point of view and how it affects the other guys,” Adelman said. “We certainly have talked about if he starts, how do we do that? If he doesn’t start, how do I play him? If they put a minute limitation on him, how do we use those minutes the best way for him and the team? Those are all things we’ve talked about and as soon as we decide he’s going to play, then I’ll have to make that decision.”

Roy speaks

Brandon Roy, who had Nov. 19 surgery on his right knee, said he didn’t consider retirement when it was decided he’d have surgery.

Roy took part in Thursday’s practice, which doesn’t mean much. The team did little more than shoot. But the fact Roy said retiring didn’t cross his mind was interesting.

“No,” he said when asked about reports that he’d considered leaving the game again. “A few people asked me that, and I don’t pay attention much to the media. I don’t really read that stuff. But I don’t know where that could have come from. But no, I never thought about walking away. It was, for me, just do I want to go through another procedure or do I want to play through it. that was more my question than walking away.”

Roy said he’s been able to some running, participate in team warm-ups and do shooting drills. He has been spending a lot of time in the weight room working to get the strength back in his right leg.

That said, Roy did admit to some concern about the injury – which happened late in preseason – and the process of surgery and recovery. “There is always, I think, that small concern in the back of your mind,” he said. “But it felt good this week, and I think I’m trying to push it because I want to get to next week and see where it’s really at. But the good thing is it feels good. It feels like that nagging feeling I was feeling there early in the season, it feels like it’s gone. ‘’

It will likely be a while before Roy can really test the knee. Given the Wolves upcoming schedule, the team probably won’t have another full-contact practice until Dec. 21.

Etc.

--Malcolm Lee (hyper-extended right knee) did not practice and did not travel with the team to New Orleans.

--Forward/guard Josh Howard, who missed Wednesday’s game with an illness, should be ready to play Friday, Adelman said.

Jerry Zgoda missed the entire Kevin Garnett era, but he's back covering the Timberwolves after working the beat for their first four seasons two decades ago. In between, he covered a bit of everything: Gopher men's and women's basketball and NCAA athletics, golf, outdoor recreation, sports media and a little Vikings and Twins.